Processor

AMD takes $157 million loss cuts 15% of its workforce

We already learned about this last week, the good news is that the number of layoffs is smaller then expected, the bad news .. it's still a lot. All those poor people. AMD announced a third-quarter net loss of $157 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenue of $1.27 billion. This compares to a profit of $77 million on revenue of $1.41 billion in the previous quarter, and a profit of $138 million on revenue of $1.69 billion in Q3 2011. In the third quarter, sales of the company's Computing Solutions plunged 11 percent sequentially and 28 percent year-over-year due to weak consumer demand for PCs as well as lower average selling prices across all geographies. Graphics segment revenue took a hit of 7 percent sequentially and 15 percent year-over-year, while GPU revenue crashed 14 percent sequentially.

Cooler Master Blizzard T2 and Hyper T4 CPU coolers

Cooler master has released the Cooler Master Blizzard T2 and Hyper T4 CPU coolers. The two coolers are labeled as budget products and priced as such, 15 EUR for the Blizzard T2 and 25 EUR for the Hyper T4 CPU cooler. The Blizzard T2 has four Continuous Direct Contact copper heatpipes molded in a somewhat weird looking Dual Loop design. It has a 92 mm Rifle bearing fan operating at 2200 RPM and offers support for Intel LGA 1156/1155/775 and AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3 /AM2 processors.

AMD launches pretty cool Z-60 APU for Tablets

AMD announced its latest entry in the performance tablet and small form factor PC market with the AMD Z-60 Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). The AMD Z-60 is AMD's lowest power APU, delivering unprecedented performance and AMD All Day power for tablet form factors as thin as 10mm. A compelling combination of features, stunning graphics, support for the latest Microsoft Windows 8 applications and user interfaces, as well as compatibility with Windows 7 and the full-suite of legacy Windows applications, makes the AMD Z-60 APU an ideal solution for a range of designs. I have some AMD PDF slides ready for you guys after the break as this is a very interesting release.

Intel Launches Atom Processors for NAS Devices

By itself not really new news, but Recognizing the ongoing, real-time growth of storage demands, this solution, powered by the Intel Atom processor D2550 or the Intel Atom processor D2500 are now powering NAS servers from Asustor, QNAP, and Thecus.

AMD Hondo ultra-low-power APU for Tablets

AMD released a spooky video that teases an upcoming low-power mobile product that will be shown off on October 9. No official details are available yet, but the site came across rumors that the product being teased is Hondo, an ultra-low-power APU that should succeed the Z-01 APU. The last AMD roadmaps we looked at described Hondo as a "Z-Series" offering with one or two Bobcat cores, DirectX 11-capable integrated graphics, and a 4.5W power envelope (down from 5.9W for the dual-core Z-01).

AMD might fire another 5 percent of its workforce

AMD is preparing to announce another 5 percent reduction of its global workforce because "the company has too many VPs and directors who slow things down According to the vr-zone. New hires cannot fulfill their targets due to amount of bureaucracy." The site says once the new round of job reductions are complete, AMD should have a sub-10,000 workforce. This compares to a workforce of 15,000 jobs back in 2008.

AMD A10 5800K Trinity APU preview

In this preview we talk about what AMD is about to release with the AMD A10 5800K APU processor. Based on Trinity APU architecture and building on the strengths of both the Llano and Bulldozer design, the 2012 AMD A-Series platform has been updated to meet and exceed the increasing demands of today’s consumers. In this article we introduce you to the 2012 AMD A-Series platform. More CPU performance, and a much faster integrated graphics unit. Have a peek at the preview, with a review to follow next week on Monday. So this is a very limited preview focusing more on the technology rather then the performance, it's what AMD allows us to do and not so much what we want to show you as the entire article is already ready. Please stay tuned for the final article.

Intel to Discontinue Sandy Bridge Processors

Intel’s third generation 22nm Core series Ivy Bridge processors have been out for quite a while now but Intel is still selling the old 32nm second generation Sandy Bridge alongside the new models but this will change soon (not quite soon though).

Intel Atom Centerton server CPU details Surface

Specifications of three of Intel's upcoming "Centerton" Atom processors for the server market have surfaced. These chips will have a sub-10W TDP, they target microservers and will start shipping in Q4 2012.Atom "Centerton" chips will integrate two "Saltwell" CPU cores, single-channel memory controller, PCI Express 2.0 interface, and several I/O components. Each CPU core will have its own dedicated 32KB instruction and 24 KB data L1 caches, and 512 KB L2 cache.

AMD Vishera FX-series CPU gets pricetag

Pricing of AMD's upcoming Piledriver-based "Vishera" FX-series processors have hit the web. These prices aren't official though, they are the pre-order prices from a store named BLT. BLT store recently started to take pre-orders on four AMD FX "Vishera" chips, models FX-8350, FX8320, FX-6300 and FX-4300 that are priced at $253, $242, $175 and $131, respectively. While the FX-8350 and FX-6300 were expected to be released in the first group of the new FX processors, the other two were not supposed to be launched in the first consignment, which shows that AMD has adjusted its plans.

Enermax Liquid Processor Coolers

Enermax releases the first models of the ELC liquid cooler series. They are based on a completely new cold plate design and ensure a much quicker and more efficient elimination of hot spots. The applied Twister fans with the innovative Tri-Cooling function provide a durable and silent operation. Three models, ELC120-TB, ELC120-TA and ELC240, will be available for sale from next week on.

Intel Increases Overclocking Potential in Haswell Processors

Overclocking has become increasingly difficult ever since Sandy Bridge and it is made a bit more difficult with Ivy Bridge mainly because it runs hotter because Intel decided to use a substandard thermal paste instead of fluxless solder. This could very well change with Intels Haswell platform. As reported by Anton Shilov of XBit Labs, Intel will offer more overclocking flexibility with the new platform, and here's why.

HP ProBook business laptops have AMD Trinity APUs

HP spreads workd that they updated its ProBook 4445, 4446s and 4545s business laptops with AMD's Trinity APUs. The ProBook 4545s is currently available globally with prices starting at $499. The other two models are only for the Asia-Pacific and Japan regions.

AMD demos A10-5800K and FX-8350 Near IDF

When IDF is hold, AMD is always nearby showing some new and upcoming goodies. AMD showed off two of its upcoming flagship client processors, the socket FM2 A10-5800K "Trinity" APU, and socket AM3+ FX-8350 "Vishera" CPU. The two chips were shown running fully-loaded gaming PCs. More info and screenshots after the break.

Intel puts CPU and WiFi radio together on chip

Interesting development, one chip to rule them all ? If you figured Intel's Atom processor line was at a grinding halt, think again: the company is launching a new version of the silicon, code named Rosepoint. Don't be too quick to dismiss it, either, because it sounds like the new mobile processor could mean business.

Intel Core i7-4900 Ivy Bridge-E only in Q3 2013

Intel isn't really in a rush to release its new high-end processors due to lack of competition, in the fourth quarter of the year we can expect the Core i7-3970K, the final Sandy Bridge-E part, and even though Haswell is expected in Q2 2013, the Ivy Bridge-E processors won't arrive until Q3 2013.

Commodore 64 celebrates 30th anniversary

It's the product that keeps coming back in some sort of way or form. BBC News reports the Commodore 64 celebrates its 30th anniversary this week. The machines were released in August 1982 for $595, significantly less than the $1,200 price tag of the Apple II.

The machine was hugely successful for its time, helping to encourage personal computing, popularise video games and pioneer homemade computer-created music. The $595 (£399) device took its name from its US maker, Commodore International, and the fact it had 64 kilobytes of RAM memory.

Intel Ivy Bridge-E still a year away

A fresh Intel processor roadmap confirms that the Ivy Bridge-E roadmap is still far away. The picture posted at VR Zone China reveals Ivy Bridge-E is currently planned for Q3 2013, a quarter after the launch of Haswell. Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge-E chips are up-scaled versions of today's Core "Ivy Bridge" chips, built on the same 22 nm process, with more processing cores, memory channels, cache, and PCI-Express 3.0 certified system interfaces.

AMD brings back Jim Keller as Chief Architect for CPU cores

AMD has managed to rehire Jim Keller from Apple. Keller was the lead architect of the K8 architecture and of the x86-64 specification, he will leave his post as a director in the platform architecture group at Apple to take up a position as AMD Corporate Vice President and Chief Architect for CPU cores.

AMD announced today that Jim Keller, 53, has joined the company as corporate vice president and chief architect of AMD's microprocessor cores, reporting to chief technology officer and senior vice president of technology and engineering Mark Papermaster. In this role, Keller will lead AMD's microprocessor core design efforts aligned with AMD's ambidextrous strategy with a focus on developing both high-performance and low-power processor cores that will be the foundation of AMD's future products.

Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme expected in Q4 2012

Intel's Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition processor will arrive in the final quarter of this year. This chip will feature a 3.50GHz clockspeed, a 4GHz Turbo, and 15MB L3 cache.

The six-core chip is based on the all too familiar 32 nm "Sandy Bridge-E" silicon, and built in the LGA2011 package. Its feature-set is consistent with that of the Core i7-3960X, with 15 MB shared L3 cache, HyperThreading, and unlocked base-clock multiplier.

Intel reports second-quarter profit of $2.8 billion

Intel announced a second-quarter profit of $2.8 billion, or 54 cents per share, on revenue of $13.5 billion. For the full year 2012, Intel now anticipates revenue will be between 3 to 5 percent higher than 2011, down from previous expectation for high single-digit growth. Intel Corporation today reported quarterly revenue of $13.5 billion, operating income of $3.8 billion, net income of $2.8 billion and EPS of $0.54. The company generated approximately $4.7 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion and used $1.1 billion to repurchase stock.

Business OutlookIntel's Business Outlook does not include the potential impact of any business combinations, asset acquisitions, divestitures or other investments that may be completed after July 17.

Intel's Business Outlook is posted on intc.com and may be reiterated in public or private meetings with investors and others. The Business Outlook will be effective through the close of business Sept. 14 unless earlier updated; except that the Business Outlook for amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, impact of equity investments and interest and other, and tax rate, will be effective only through the close of business on July 24. Intel's Quiet Period will start from the close of business on Sept. 14 until publication of the company's third-quarter earnings release, scheduled for Oct. 16. During the Quiet Period, all of the Business Outlook and other forward-looking statements disclosed in the company's news releases and filings with the SEC should be considered as historical, speaking as of prior to the Quiet Period only and not subject to an update by the company.

Next-gen Intel Atom delayed to end of 2013

Intel's latest roadmaps show that the next-gen Valleyview Atom SoC and the corresponding BayTrail platform are delayed until the end of 2013, and won't see widespread availability in products until 2014.

On paper, the whole platform looks promising. We have Bay Trail-T and Valleyview-T for mobile phones (until then, you're stuck with Oak Trail-based Atom Z6xx processors) which will support LPDDR3 memory from Day 1. Valleyview-T will be available in quad-core format as well, which means that by Q4 2013 both Qualcomm and TI need to have their processors candy-dandy, given the lead from HiSilicon, NVIDIA and Samsung.

The only problem is that taking a look at competitor's roadmaps, they seem to be more than ready for continuously-delayed "Intel chips that will change the world". Ultimately, Intel plans to utilize its 22nm fabs to the full extent, with the future migration to 14nm, but the mobile platform is looking to lag one process node behind the traditional desktop/notebook/server processors. The official line is that the company still prepares 22nm mobile node, but that node slipped deep into the 2013 and as we all know, you can buy 22nm processors from Intel

AMD desktop Trinity CPUs delayed to October?

DigiTimes learned that AMD delayed its desktop Trinity APUs from August to October in order to make some adjustments to the processors' designs.

Downstream motherboard makers are also rushing to make adjustments to their new motherboard projects set to release in the second half, according to sources from motherboard makers. In addition to production and design issues with the Trinity processors, AMD's previous-generation Llano processor's high inventory levels which need to be digested are reportedly one of the reasons that AMD decided to delay the launch of Trinity. However, AMD did not confirm the speculation. Many Socket FM2-based processors including A10-5800k will be delayed.

In other news the site also mentiones that three new AM3+ Vishera chips are expected in October -- In October, AMD also plans to launch three new AM3+ Vishera-based processors (Volan) including FX-8350 (125W/95W) and FX6300, with FX-4320 to be launched at a later time.